An Ink Painting of Playful Monkeys by Kamata Gansen 鎌田巌泉

Meiji era (1868 to 1912), late 19th to early 20th century

This kakejiku (掛 け 軸, hanging scroll) is an ink and colour painting on silk. It depicts two macaques perched in a persimmon tree. Native to Japan, persimmons (柿, kaki ) are symbols of autumn, prosperity and good luck. In this charming painting, a single ripe fruit dangles from a lower branch, tantalisingly in reach. In Japan, macaques are often referred to as ‘snow monkeys’ and are famous for bathing in natural onsen (温 泉, hot springs). The brushwork on their fur is impeccably precise, almost tangibly soft in its fine execution. This makes for a brilliant contrast with broader, cartoonish brush strokes of the tree bark and makes for a captivating, energetic composition. Signed ‘Gansen zu’ (painting by Gansen), the work bears the artist’s seal and is stored in a modern wood storage box and cardboard slipcase.

Kamata Gansen (b.1844)

Kamata Gansen is an Edo-era painter whose life has been largely shrouded in mystery. Notably, he was mentioned in May 1886 in a lecture delivered by Ernest Hart in London:

“There is an artist, Gansen, of the highest skill. It is unfortunate that he should have carried his imitation to the extent of habitually applying [Mori] Sosen’s seal to his work, which is quite good enough.” (See Ernest Hart, Lectures on Japanese Art Work Delivered before the Society, May 4, 11, and 18, 1886 , London, Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, 1887). Hart is referring to Gansen’s habit of marking his work with Sosen’s seal (1747–1821), which was largely unnecessary due to Gansen’s own superb technical skills. It has been suggested that Gansen was the second son of Kamata Gansho (1798-1859) who studied under Sosen. (See the “Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce Exhibition Hanging Print: Brief List of Exhibitors at the Second Domestic Painting Exhibition”). Gansen likely studied painting under his father along with his siblings (Kamata Aiko, Kamata Osho).

In 2023, Iwasa Shinichi published a research paper on Gansen, entitled “On a Portrait of Okumura Fusajiro Painted by Kamata Gansen (Osaka Museum of History)” in the Bulletin of Osaka Museum of History , Issue 21 (2023). His works were recently included in a private exhibition held by 呑 兵 衛 コレ クション (the Drunkard’s Collection) in November 2024 in Tokyo, titled “Inheriting Painting Techniques: From Mori Sosen to Mori Sosetsu, and on to Kamata Gansen” (画 技 継 承：森 狙 仙 か ら 森 祖 雪、さ ら に 鎌 田 巌 泉 へ). Despite this implicit association with the Mori school, Gansen was generally considered a member of the Kose school of painting in his time. His earliest known activity is the 1863 ( Bunkyū 3 ) calendar (now in the Art Institute of Chicago collection), suggesting he began his career as a painter around this time, aged twenty by the traditional Japanese counting system.